After a very long nap and a very stressful walk, I now found myself standing in front of the bar where the Black Kings party was being held. I had never been to this one before; my guess was that Night picked it so that there would be less of a chance of a surprise appearance from Newsies or Sharks who were aware of the usual Black King haunts.
I adjusted the black cap on top of my forehead for what must have been the hundredth time. It wasn't my Newsie cap. Jack had told me to leave that back at the Lodging House. Instead, I was wearing a random black cap that the boys had somehow "found" and had a black bandanna tied around my arm. I was still dressed up in regular Newsie clothes but the bandanna and hat signaled my true loyalties. It wasn't strange for people and especially spies to attend these parties in different clothing than the all-black we normally wore. It worried me slightly that Jack and the others now knew the appropriate dress code for a Black King event. That meant that they could probably slip in a spy and few people would take notice. I suppose that was one of the downsides of always wearing the same color and covering your face even from your other gang members. You stopped being able to recognize people and keep your enemies straight from your allies.
The thought also occurred to me that I still didn't know exactly how Jack and the others thought that they were going to be able to make it inside. They sure as hell weren't dressed for the party and Jack and Spot couldn't exactly just stroll inside and expect not to be noticed. Race and Mush had a better fighting chance but they would still run the risk of being recognized by someone who'd seen them in the streets or, in Race's case, had beaten them to a pulp.
Taking a deep breath, I steeled myself against my nerves and strode confidently to the front door, easing it open with the usual grace of a Black King. Walking inside was nothing like walking into the birthday party the Newsies had thrown for me. With the Newsies, everything had been loud and all-over-the-place. With the Black Kings, however, the atmosphere was casual and calm although you could almost smell the danger wafting from every person in this place. It was an odd balance between being able to relax and yet still having to watch your back every now and then. But then again, the Black Kings were never ones to be anything less than perfectly lethal, even in our down time.
I slowly started to walk across the crowded table area, my eyes scanning for Night, Holler, or someone else I knew who could point me in the right direction. I was familiar with most of the people here but I didn't really know who to start out talking to. Instead, I settled for weaving in between tables and groups of people slowly, making it look like I had a destination when in fact I was just wandering and trying to figure out my next move.
An unexpected tap on my shoulder caused me to stop abruptly midstride and turn around, ready for an unfriendly face or a punch aimed at me. Instead, I came face-to-chest with a comfortingly familiar person: Holler.
"Fancy seeing you here," Holler said, grinning so widely I thought his face would split in two.
"You know I'm always up for a good party," I replied, smirking.
"I do," he replied, eyes flashing with amusement.
I glanced down and saw that he was holding two beer bottles in his hands. He noticed the gesture and immediately held one out to me.
"Here. I got it for you," he declared solemnly.
"Thanks. I need it," I accepted thankfully, taking a big gulp.
"Not too fast there. You've got the entire night to drink," Holler said, laughing.
"You obviously don't know what it's like working with the Newsies. Trust me, I definitely need this," I replied, making a face.
Holler just laughed at that, throwing back his head. I laughed also, the casual atmosphere infecting me slowly. It was such a difference from the Lodging House where everyone was being so solemn lately. At the same time, it made me wonder. The Black Kings were also at war right now; how were they able to be so casual about it?
"Hey Holler," I said, grabbing his attention back towards me, "how come everyone is so at ease right now? Don't they know we're at war?"
"They know it. They just don't care because they're all confident enough that we're going to win," he explained.
"And what do you think?" I asked before I could stop myself.
Holler didn't turn around as he answered my question.
"I think that it's good that our confidence is up but we also need to be prepared," he answered cautiously.
He had given a fairly diplomatic answer but I could tell from the tone of his voice that he thought that we were overconfident and that that could kill us eventually.
We paused next to a booth with a few people sitting in it. I nodded my head at one of the guys I knew who nodded back before turning his attention to Holler who had started talking to all three of them. I used the opportunity to lean my back against the wooden wall dividing the booths and scanned the room. It was starting to get more crowded now as more and more people started showing up. Surprisingly enough, the noise level in the room didn't really rise that much. I think Black Kings had a natural tendency to adapt and conform so everyone was probably trying to blend in with the established sound level.
Suddenly an arm cut off my view of the rest of the room. I turned my head and saw Holler standing much closer than he was five seconds ago talking to the others, a mischievous smile on his face.
"Had too much to drink already?" I said, raising an eyebrow.
"Nope. I just want to make Jack and the others squirm. I know they're watching this somehow," he said, leaning in close.
I chuckled and shook my head.
"In that case, do what you want. Short of kissing me of course," I said.
"Don't worry I wouldn't try that. Although I would love to see the look on Jacky-boy's face after I did that," Holler said grinning.
"Pure horror and anger," I said laughing.
"Come on kid," he said, putting a casual arm around my shoulder, "I know Night's around here somewhere,"
"He told me to come find him after I found you or someone else," I commented, glancing around the room.
"Yeah. It might've been a bit suspicious for the Newsies if the first person you went to was Night," he replied.
I nodded my head.
"That means," Holler continued, his grin slowly growing, "that we can do some more socializing before we have to get down to business,"
He immediately pulled me over to the bar and we sat down on two of the stools.
"Cheers," he said, clinking his bottle against mine before starting to chug his beer down.
Not wanting to get shown up, I immediately followed suit, letting the bitter liquid slide down my throat, completely bypassing my taste buds. I didn't particularly like beer but, hey, it was better than nothing.
We both slammed our drinks down at about the same time on the counter. Holler signaled to the bartender at the end who immediately hurried over. A lot faster than the other bartender from the Newsie party might I add.
"What can I get you?" he asked.
"Two beers," Holler answered, sliding some change across the counter.
"Coming right up," the man replied, reaching under the counter and coming up again with two bottles in his hand.
He slid them across the table and each caught one. Holler pulled out a little bottle opener he kept in his pocket and swiftly opened both of the bottles. I sipped at this beer a bit more slowly. No sense in getting completely drunk just yet. That could come later.
"So how's the planning been going?" I asked casually, scanning the room.
"It's coming along," Holler said simply.
I glanced over at him and saw the stress evident on his face. Obviously the planning was not going as well as it should have.
"That bad, huh?" I asked, taking another swig of beer.
Holler sighed and rested a hand tiredly against his forehead.
"Night and Steel and Trap have all been disagreeing about how to handle the upcoming war. Steel thinks we need more random attacks while Trap thinks we need to conserve our energy for the final battle and Night wants a big attack that will cripple the Newsies but not out in the open. I think he understands the most how vulnerable we're starting to become and he's saying to hell with pride right now if it means survival," he explained.
"Well they better agree fast before there isn't even a gang left to plan battles for," I murmured.
"That's what I told them," Holler said, clearly exasperated.
"Always the voice of reason Holler," I said, chuckling.
"I try," he replied trying to look like a tragic hero.
"Anything else?" I asked, suppressing a laugh.
"We drew out of Brooklyn entirely: no sense in trying to keep that territory for right now. And we've pulled back our borders slightly. We need to secure everything before we try anything offensive," he said.
I nodded my head, processing the information.
"And how much of this should I tell Jack and the others? Given that apparently I'm a spy for them now," I asked.
"We'll let Night decide that," Holler said, glancing around the room, "Speaking of which, there he is,"
I followed Holler's gaze to the booth in the corner where Night was indeed sitting along with Steel and Trap.
"Well I think we've socialized enough for right now. Let's go pay Night a visit," I said, sliding off my stool.
Holler followed suit and the two of us wove our way across the increasingly crowded room to where Night and the others were. I was constantly on the lookout for Jack and the others but to my surprise I couldn't find them which unnerved me slightly. It wasn't a good thing that they could hide in plain sight at a Black Kings' party.
We finally strode up to the table with Holler leading the way. I flashed Night a quick smile and he nodded in return, playing the role of a leader who's seeing an old gang member again. I pretended to look a bit nervous just in case the Newsies were watching.
"How's it rolling Night?" I asked, trying to seem both respectful and casual.
"Can't complain. Your new employers have been getting on my nerves recently though," Night said, his eyes flashing dangerously.
"Yeah, well, no one ever said that the Newsies were known for being smart," I said, shrugging my shoulders.
Night smirked at that.
"It's good to see you again," he said, relaxing slightly.
"It's good to be back," I said, bowing my head down for a second.
Night regarded me for a second before patting the seat next to him.
"Why don't you sit next to me and we can catch up a little bit?" he asked, although it was really more of a command.
"Alright," I said, nodding my head.
I slowly slid into the booth next to Night, who immediately put his arm around me. It was a bit weird but I just went with it.
"Your Newsie guys are here, right?" he whispered in my ear.
"Yeah, somewhere," I said, scanning the room for the tenth time.
"Well you better find them. I don't want random Newsies crashing my party," Night warned.
"I will," I replied confidently, although on the inside I wasn't so sure if I could.
These boys were damn good at hiding unfortunately. I tried to steer the conversation elsewhere in an effort to distract Night.
"So how are the plans going?" I asked carefully.
Night's face tensed up slightly and he didn't reply immediately. A small feeling of unease settled into the bottom of my stomach. I knew we weren't doing really well but Holler and Night made it seem like we were losing, and badly. Leaning in slightly more towards Night, I braced myself for the bad news to come.